1 “Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And 3 Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, 4 why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 Moreover He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of 8 their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite; 9 and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen the 10 oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel 12 out of Egypt? And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee that I have sent thee; when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”
Golden Text.—“Certainly I will be with thee.” Verse 12.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) What was the occupation of Moses? For whom was he working? In what part of the country was he keeping the flock? Verse 1. Note 1. (2) Who appeared to Moses? What was peculiar about the burning bush? Verse 2. Note 2. (3) What did Moses say on beholding the strange sight? Verse 3. (4) Who then called to him from the bush? Verse 4. (5) What did the Lord say to Moses? Verse 5. Note 3. (6) Who did God proclaim himself to be? What then did Moses do? Why? Verse 6. (7) What did the Lord say He had seen and heard? Verse 7. Note 4. (8) What was now the object of His visit to earth? Verse 8. (9) How was the Lord’s knowledge of Israel’s condition reiterated? Verse 9. (10) Then what purpose concerning Moses was announced? Verse 10. Note 5. (11) What was Moses’ meek reply to this announcement? Verse 11. Note 6. (12) What promise did the Lord make to Moses? What token of his commission was assured? Verse 12.
NOTES.
1. In the previous chapter we have the story of Moses’ flight from Egypt forty years before, of his engagement as shepherd for Jethro, and his marriage with Jethro’s daughter.
2. Fire is one of the most fitting elements to visibly symbolize the God of heaven. It is a shining light, powerful and purifying, as well as consuming of everything that is consumable in nature. “Our God is a consuming fire,” says the scripture. Heb. 12:29.
3. Humility is always the only becoming attitude before God. In the East it is deemed a proper token of respect to remove the shoes on entering the abode of human beings; then how much more in the presence of God, who made even the ground holy. A like command was given to Joshua when met by the Lord near Jericho. Josh. 5:13-15. “Before honor is humility,” was strikingly true in the experience of both Moses and Joshua.
4. Had Seen the Affliction.—It was not just then that the Lord had seen the affliction of His people in Egypt. Before Moses was born the Israelites were made to “serve with rigor” under the lash of cruel taskmasters, and Moses’ own life was spared at his birth through disregard of a cruel decree of the king. God had seen their affliction for a long time, but the opportune time for their deliverance had to be awaited. A leader had to be raised up who would walk humbly before God, and the people themselves must be disciplined to a point where they would be willing to go out of Egypt in God’s own way.
5. Moses had undertaken to deliver Israel in his own way forty years before. He had understood that God would deliver them by his hand, and was about to begin the work in a military way. But that was not God’s way. He was the real Deliverer, and the visible leader must follow His directions. He was now going to send Moses in a way that would characterize his mission as solely a work of faith in the power and wisdom and guidance of the Lord of Israel.
6. “Who Am I?”—Well might Moses, or any other human being, ask this question. He was a fugitive from Egypt, one whom the king had desired to put to death. And now he was to be sent, as he at first supposed, right into the presence of his personal enemies. This, too, when he was but a humble shepherd. The undertaking was a stupendous one, even without the opposition of the government. The preparation for the removal of two and a half or three million people, and their organization into a government in a strange land occupied by hostile peoples, was a task that would cause a man of even ordinary modesty to ask, Who am I to undertake such a work?
